Murtha backtracks...

Murtha is backpedalling from his seditious statements:

This from his website (emphases and comments mine):

Washington D.C. - The following is a statement from Congressman Murtha regarding the incident at Haditha:

I am a Vietnam combat veteran. I understand full well the type of situation those Marines were in. These are allegations. I believe that the case should and will be fully investigated and that the Marines involved will be treated fairly by the military justice system. (Well, I can see that you backed up those sentiments with your actions--NOT!!)

I talk to commanders and soldiers all the time about the circumstances they face in Iraq. I talk to not only the brass at the Pentagon, but to the officers in the field and the soldiers I see every week at Bethesda and Walter Reed medical centers with their arms and legs blown off by IEDs. (You mean like John Kerry's imaginary talks with world leaders?? What military commanders, Mr. Murtha?? If you're going to make pronouncements of guilt or innocence without the benefit of due process, I want you to NAME NAMES, Mr. Murtha.) I am acutely aware of the type of situation those Marines were in. Our soldiers are incredibly brave and are fighting in an extremely difficult combat environment with extremely difficult rules of engagement. They perform heroically and have been for going on four years now, with very few exceptions. As a nation, we can be extremely proud of the conduct of our US military (So proud of their conduct that you said that you wouldn't enlist again if given the chance? Yeah, right).

As I've said, I understand the fog of war and the confusion of battle. But we are a nation of laws, including the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). (Too bad that YOU don't understand that even the UCMJ provides for due process before the pronouncement of guilt, Mr. Murtha). The United States of America has never condoned, nor should it ever condone, indiscriminate, deliberate killing of civilians. When we do that, we become no better than the enemy we are trying to eradicate.

Further, to ignore this incident, which happened six months ago and has now been publicized around the world (Thanks to you and your big mouth, Mr. Murtha) , is to invite criticism that the United States does not practice what it preaches (Invite criticism? Murtha, you not only invite criticism when it comes to our troops and their mission, you show criticism where the best silverware is). That will severely undermine our goals of promoting democracy (pot, meet kettle), as did the Abu Ghraib scandal. Again, the United States of America does not condone the deliberate killing of innocent civilians.

Nor does the United States condone the pronouncement of guilt without due process, Mr. Murtha.

Question: Do you live in the same United States that we do?).

...Do you also want to spout off your surrender monkey rhetoric to Pfc. Damarcus Wilson, who had had endured extensive brain surgery in Germany after several pieces of shrapnel had pierced his forehead during a routine mission in Baghdad, Iraq?

...“He wants to go back,” his mother said. “He said he wanted to go back and finish the job he was sent over there to do and to be with his Army family. To think like that, at 20, it’s amazing.”

At 20 years old, Pfc. Damarcus Wilson knows what honor means.

At 19 years old, my son knows what honor means.

Do you, Congressman Murtha?

(Cross posted at Murtha Must Go!!)

(Filed under Murtha Must Go, the fifth column)